Wireless networks, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), often comprise one or more access points (APs) and one or more stations (STAs). The APs and the STAs communicate with each other by sending and receiving transmissions via one or more channels. Some wireless networks implement a transmission and reception technique known as “beamforming.” Beamforming is a signal processing technique used to control the directionality of, or sensitivity to, a radiation pattern. For example, when receiving a signal, an AP or STA implementing beamforming can increase its reception sensitivity in the direction of wanted signals and decrease its reception sensitivity in the direction of interference, noise and other unwanted signals. Similarly, when transmitting a signal, an AP or STA implementing beamforming can increase the power of transmission in the direction the signal is to be sent.
There are disadvantages associated with beamforming. For example, in a WLAN, if an AP transmits a signal to an STA (hereinafter STA1) using beamforming, another STA (hereinafter STA2) in that WLAN may not receive (or “hear”) the beamformed transmission. Because this STA2 does not hear the beamformed transmission, it may assume the channel is idle and begin transmitting its own data, thereby resulting in data collisions with data being transferred between the AP and the STA1.